


Tales of Crimson Beetle & Onyx

by Marc_Anciel_Fan



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: BAMF Marc Anciel, Kwami Swap, M/M, Miraculous Holder Marc Anciel, Miraculous Holder Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Nathaniel Kurtzberg is a nervous wreck, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:26:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23144653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marc_Anciel_Fan/pseuds/Marc_Anciel_Fan
Summary: Master Fu gave the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous to our favorite artist and writer.A Ladybug!Nathaniel and Chat Noir!Marc. As stated in the tags, there will be an OC who is heavily involved with the story. Don't like, don't read.*Edit* It turns out that this came from a Nathmarc Discord which I am now a part of! So a lot of this is actually from that, Username8746489, Sinnamon_Troll and a discord user by the name of Sneksnacc, StickShift on Ao3, started it and built a majority of it. bloodwebs, who also has an Ao3, started helping out a little later. Then more people joined the server and there is too much stuff to skim through/too many people to credit, so credit to the discord server.
Relationships: Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Comments: 9
Kudos: 29
Collections: MarcNath Fics!





	1. Crimson Beetle's Origin

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Creators](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21879565) by [Username8746489](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Username8746489/pseuds/Username8746489). 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crimson Beetle's first day on the job!

Nathaniel walked out of the Dupain-Cheng bakery, and waited for the light to turn at the crosswalk. His eye was caught by an old man who had fallen down, and was trying to reach his cane. No one else seemed to notice, and someone even kicked the cane away from him.

Nathaniel grabbed the cane and gave it back to the old man, before helping him stand

“Sir, are you okay?” The old man looks gratefully at him.

“Thank you young man, that was very kind of you.” Nathaniel awkwardly chuckled at that.

“Uh, it was no problem sir.”

Once Nathaniel made it to school, he managed to find his classroom. He made his way inside, and Rose, one of his friends from last year, waved energetically at him. He waved back at her and Juleka, another one of his friends from last year, who were both sitting in the back. On his way to the back, he passed Marinette, who was surprisingly early for once.

‘Guess she decided being late on the first day would make a bad first impression.’

Chloe entered the classroom and headed straight for Marinette, slamming her hand on the desk. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Nathaniel watched as Chloe try to move Marinette out of the seat she’s always sat in, and while he wanted to defend his friend, he was too shy to stand up to Chloe. It seemed the new girl had plenty of confidence to stand up to Chloe though.

“Who elected you Queen of Seats?” She challenged Chloe, who wasn’t intimidated at all.

“Oh, look Sabrina, we’ve got a little do-gooder in our class this year.” She fired back. “What are you gonna do, super newbie, shoot beams at me with your glasses?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She growled back before pushing past Chloe and pulled Marinette out of her seat and to the front, causing her to trip and drop the macaroons.

‘Geez, newbie, who decided you were Queen of Seats?’ Nathaniel snarked inside his head, worried about Marinette’s fall.

“Alright class, has everyone found a seat?” The teacher, Miss Bustier, asked.

Nathaniel’s attention soon wandered off, and he began doodling. He jolted back to reality when everyone got up, and Nathaniel heard the tail end of Miss Bustier’s instructions.

“Kim!” Ivan, the giant he had seated himself behind bellowed and raised a fist. Miss Bustier was quick to send him to the principal’s office without even hearing him out.

Nathaniel went to the library as instructed, with Juleka joining him, and decided to finish up one of his commissions. He was interrupted by loud thumps that jolsted the entire school, and caused several students to fall. People started screaming and some ran to the TVs to see what was going on. When he got a look, Nathaniel saw a giant rock monster rampaging down the street.

“What’s going on? He had Ivan’s voice?” He heard Marinette question, turning to see standing next to him and the new girl.

“It’s as if he’s been transformed into a real-life supervillain!” She excitedly exclaimed before pulling out her phone. “GPS, check, battery, check, I’m so outta here. C'mon Marinette!” She started to run out of the library.

“Alya, where are you going?” Marinette called after her. She paused and turned around.

“When there’s a supervillain, a superhero’s not far behind. There’s no way I’m missing this!” Alya threw open the doors and barged out.

“That girl is insane Mari. Absolutely insane.” Nathaniel deadpans.

School is let out for who knows how long, and after waving off his friends’ concerns, he manages to get back to my empty apartment. After slinging off his book bag onto his bed, Nathaniel settled at his desk.

“Wait, what’s this?” He picks up the small black and red box on the desk, before opening it. A blinding red light pours out of it and starts to fly around him.

“Hello Nathaniel!” A giant flying bug thing says. Nathaniel stared bug-eyed at it before quickly reacting by throwing the box it escaped from at it and screaming. “Everything’s okay. Don’t be scared.” Nathaniel only responded by screaming more and chucking a pencil at it. “Listen Nathaniel, I know everything may seem a bit strange to you but you have to listen to me.

The terrified redhead tried to slowly calm himself down, and eventually had calmed down enough that he wasn’t screaming his head off and chucking things at the red thing. “Wh-what are you?”

“I’m a Kwami, and my name is Tikki. Let me explain. Your job is to capture akumas, they’re evil akumas that prey on people with negative emotions. You’ll have a superpower called Lucky Charm, and that will summon an item to help you defeat it. Oh, you’ll also have a partner, a black cat-themed superhero.”

Nathaniel carefully put on the earrings, before nodding. “Right, capture the akuma thingy, charm is my power, 5 minute time limit, got it. I just,” He rubs his arm. “I just don’t think I’m up to the task.”

Tikki smiled encouragingly at him. “I believe in you Nathaniel, trust yourself. Now, just say ‘Tikki, Spots On’.”

He looked at her in confusion. “Tikki, Spots on?” Tikki gets sucked into the earrings and Nathaniel’s vision turns pink. When it fades, he notices that his outfit changed. “Uh, Tikki, what happened? Where are you?” He calls out as he makes his way to his bathroom. When he flicks the light on, he sees himself in the mirror.

His outfit has a plain black bodysuit as a base. There’s a red chestplate with shoulder pads attached, the body of the chestplate has five black spots on it and the bottom of it fades into the bodysuit. He has red boots that almost reach his knees, with a single black spot at the very top. A red scarf with black dots wrap around his neck, and it’s big enough to bury his face in. It spills down and looks like ladybug wings. Nathaniel can’t tell if it’s the lighting, but he thinks his hair looks a bit more red.

“Hey, Tikki? This outfit is pretty cool, but can I have my normal clothes back, please?” There’s no answer, so Nathaniel leaves his bathroom and heads over to his balcony. “Alright, let’s see what this yo-yo can do.” He flings the yo-yo and after a few seconds gives an experimental tug. He pulls harder and ends up flinging himself half-way across Paris. He lets out a loud shriek as he flies through the air, and his fall is cushioned by another human being. “Oof.”

“ _ Ow _ .” Nathaniel hurriedly gets off and notices the person is a female dressed as a black cat.

“H-hey there. I think I’m supposed to be your partner.” The cat-girl brushes herself off and sticks out a hand.

“Hey there yourself. Nice of you to drop in.” She winces. “That was bad timing, sorry. Yeah, I managed to get something about a partner out of him, he’s really lazy/distracted.”

Nathaniel shakes her hand. “Nice to meet you partner. Um, do you have a name or am I just going to have to keep calling you partner?” She blinks at him and tilts her head, not unlike a cat.

“Huh, I never thought of that. Um, maybe Hecate? It’s kinda a pun, and she’s the goddess of like, witchcraft or something, and like, black cats are associated with witches and stuff. Anyway, what do I call you, Ladybug?” Her voice takes on a teasing tone with that question, and Nathaniel lets go of her hand.

“Uh, I guess just call me Crimson Beetle. I mean, my outfit is crimson and aren’t ladybugs beetles?” Their introductions get interrupted by a loud boom and in the distance, a building falls over. “I guess we should go stop that guy.”

“Yeah, I guess we should.” She shakily says, ears flattened against her head. Crimson Beetle flings himself again and Hecate slowly follows behind.

Stoneheart is in the stadium chasing after Kim when the two arrive, and Hecate smacks Stoneheart’s hand with her baton, causing him to increase in size.

“Uh oh.” She mutters as his attention turns towards the two heroes, and Kim takes the opportunity to flee. Stoneheart makes his way towards the two and Crimson leaps off of the stadium and over him. He stops suddenly and starts to attack Crimson, who’s nimbly avoiding him. One of the soccer goals flies through the air and is about to fall on Alya, who was recording the fight. Crimson Beetle reacts quickly and throws the soccer goal with his yo-yo and away from Alya, which leaves himself wide open. Stoneheart took advantage of that and grabbed Crimson.

“What are you waiting for, Catgirl? The world is watching you!” Alya cries out. Hecate lets out a scared little whine before moving into action. She jumps towards Stoneheart, baton over head, screaming all the way. Once she gets close enough, she slams the baton down on the rock monster’s head, causing him to increase in size again. That creates enough room for Crimson to slip out and join Hecate.

“ _ That was terrifying. This is terrifying. _ ” She hisses out, and Crimson looks at her curiously.

“Wha? Anyway, we need to come up with some plan of attack. Everytime we hit him he grows bigger and stronger. We need a different strategy.” He thinks for a moment before his eyes light up. “What if I use my superpower? Lucky Charm!” He throws his yo-yo in the air, and ladybugs form an item that falls into Crimson’s hands. “Is this a wetsuit? And why is it ladybug themed?”

“What are we going to do with that?” Hecate asks, confused as well. Crimson looks around the stadium and manages to cook up a plan.

“I’ve got an idea, follow my lead." And before Hecate can react, Crimson launches her at Stoneheart, with her yowling all the way.

Stoneheart catches her in his empty fist. “ _ Nope, nope, nope! Do not squish me, DO NOT SQUISH ME! _ ”

“Hey you! Catch me if you can!” Crimsons jumps at Stoneheart with the wetsuit, and Stoneheart catches him in his right fist, dropping his akumatized object. “Hey, girl over there! Turn the tap on!”

Alya, while startled at first, quickly obeys the hero’s command. The hose causes the wetsuit to inflate, and shocks the stone giant, causing him to drop both heroes. Hecate pounces on the akumatized object, and with a cry of “ _ Cataclysm! _ ” destroys the object, releasing a purple butterfly. Stoneheart becomes covered in purple and then turns back into Ivan.

Hecate turns to Crimson Beetle, slightly shaking. “Next time, tell me the plan before you just launch me!” She runs away before using her baton to soar off.

He grabs the crumpled up note and unfolds it, reading it and sympathizing with Ivan. “Hey, don’t let this Kim guy get you down. He doesn’t understand how hard it is to confess to someone.”

That causes Ivan to smile slightly.” Thanks.”

Alya runs up to the crimson hero, phone in her hand filming. “This is so amazing! Will you be protecting Paris? How did you get your superpowers? Did you get stung by a radioactive ladybug?” At that question, Crimson just wants to laugh.

“I’m not Spiderman, miss. The name’s Crimson Beetle, and I better be off. See ya!” He runs off and launches himself into the air again, thankfully not flinging himself over Paris.

Thankfully, his transformation held until he reached his balcony, and then Tikki spilled out of the earrings.

“Great job Nathaniel, you did it!” He cups her to his cheek.

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

Both of their attention is caught by a scream from below, and looking down they saw a small statue of Stoneheart. Nathaniel panicked and ran inside.

“Tikki, what happened?”

“Did you capture the akuma?” His face pales.

“Crap. I’m sorry Tikki, I forgot with all the commotion. I knew I wasn’t up to the challenge.”

Tikki flies in front of his face. “No! Don’t say that Nathaniel! Everyone makes mistakes, and once you capture the akuma the people will return to normal.” The redhead sighs, before heading to the kitchen.

“I hope you’re right Tikki.”


	2. Hecate's Origin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we get to see Hecate's side of the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The italics mean someone's speaking in English. Also, I just came up with the headcanon that when a kwami speaks, it sounds like the person's first language.

It was Nikki Evan’s first day of school in Paris, and the redhead was a little nervous. She had stopped by this amazingly delicious smelling bakery earlier and had bought herself some chocolate filled croissants in order to calm herself.

 _‘Maybe I’ll actually make some real friends this time.’_ She hoped as she waited at the crosswalk. Then Nikki noticed an old man had stepped out onto the road and that there was a car coming towards him!

She quickly reacted by running out into the street, and pulling the old man out of harm’s way. In the chaos, her box of pastries fell and was crushed by the car.

 _“Aww, my croissants.”_ Nikki whined before checking over the man. “You okay sir? Did I hurt you in any way?”

The old man smiled up at her. “Thank you young lady, you saved my life. It is a shame about your pastries.”

“It’s fine, at least it was them and not us right?” She realised the time, and said her goodbyes to the old man before rushing off to school.

Nikki found her classroom with only a little trouble, and was seated by a raven-haired boy named Marc Anciel.

“Hey, Marc right? I’m Nikki, it’s nice to meet you.” She introduced herself and held her hand out for a handshake. Marc took her hand and gently shook it.

“Y-yeah, that’s me.” Nikki beams and opens her mouth to say something to him, but her teacher, a strict looking woman with purple hair, introduced herself and gave out the first assignment of the year.

“My name is Ms. Mendeleiev, and your first assignment will be an easy one. You and your seatmate will have a conversation with one another. This is so the two of you will have a good partnership.”

With that, the students turned to their seatmate and started a conversation. Nikki followed their example and turned to Marc.

“Soo, what type of movies do you like?”

“Um, my favorite type are the superhero movies.”

“Like Marvel and DC? I think I’ve watched most of the Marvel ones. I like DC as well, but there’s so many alternate universes and movies. Who’s your favorite superhero? Mine’s Spiderman and Batman.”

The two talked about superheroes and their favorite movies before the conversation slowly moved from to comics books, then books, and then finally, their favorite pastimes.

“I write a little, it’s nothing good but I enjoy it.”

“Maybe later on, you could let me read some of it and I could tell you what I think.” Marc looked nervous, but slightly excited.

“Yeah, maybe. Hey Nikki, does this mean we’re friends now?” Nikki brightened.

“Oooh! I hope so! I really like talking to you, and I haven’t made any friends in Paris yet.”

“Alright everyone, head to the library if you don’t have Mr. Haprèle.” The students packed up their belongings, shuffling out of the room.

“Hey Marc, do you want to hang out at my place after school?” He nodded happily before the two parted, Nikki headed to the library and Marc to Mr. Haprèle’s.  
Once she got situated at a random table in the library, she pulled out her phone and scrolled through the school’s website. Her eye was caught by the art webpage, and she looked at it before getting thrown to the ground. The cause of her fall was a loud thump that came from a giant stone monster.

“ _What the bloody hell is that!?_ ” Nikki screeched as she watched the stone monster rampage away from the school.

School was quickly dismissed until they figured out what to do about the rampaging monster, and Nikki headed home to her apartment. She placed her book bag down on the floor, before noticing a box on her desk.

“ _What is this?_ ” She pondered as she wandered over, picking up the box and opening it without thinking. A blinding green ball of light flies out of the box, and Nikki freezes.

A floating black cat thing appears and yawns. “Hey kid, ya got anything to eat here?” It stared at her, and she stared back, neither of them blinking or backing down. The stare-off was ended by Nikki slamming one of her shoes on it with a triumphant cry. Only to end up screaming as the thing phased through it.

“ _DEMON CAT! DEMON CAT!_ ” She flattened herself onto the wall in a desperate attempt to get away.

“I’m not a demon, I’m a kwami. I’m here to give you superpowers, Got it? Ooh~ Can you eat this?” The cat thing bit on Nikki’s phone before spitting it out and flying over to her. “Got any camembert?” Nikki shook her head.

“ _I've got colby jack cheese if you want it._ ” It pouts before reluctantly agreeing to eat it.

The two head to the kitchen, and Nikki pulls out a container of cheese. “ _So, cat demon, I mean kwami, do you have a name?_ ”

“The name’s Plagg, and if you’re going to be a superhero, then I’m going to need some camembert.”

“ _Right, you said you could give me superpowers. What does that mean?_ ” Plagg swallowed a cheese cube whole.

“You transform when you say ‘Plagg, Claws Out’ while wearing the ring. You have a superpower called Cataclysm that can destroy or break anything you touch, ya only get one use per transformation.” Nikki’s face pales at that. “Oh, you should also have a ladybug partner.” He stuffs his face with cheese.

“ _What, so I just transform now and try to find them?_ ” She questioned.

“Sure, knock yourself out.” Nikki sighs and grabs the ring from her room before transforming.

Her outfit was a black bodysuit with a popped collar, and knee high boots over top of it along with a choker with a small silver bell on it. Her long gloves had claws at the fingertips, and her hair had poofed up with cat ears. She noticed that she had a tail.

“ _Are you kidding me? A tail?_ ” She grumbled before going onto the roof of her building and jumping to another building. Pausing on a roof, she’s pretty sure her cat ears are flicking when she detects a loud shriek that’s…slowly getting closer?

A red person falls on top of her with an “Oof.”

“ _Ow_.” Nikki says and then the person scrambles off.

“H-hey there. I think I’m supposed to be your partner.” They apologize.

She brushes herself off and sticks out a hand. “Hey there yourself. Nice of you to drop in.” Nikki winces. “That was bad timing, sorry. Yeah, I managed to get something about a partner out of him, he’s really lazy/distracted.”

Her partner shakes her hand. “Nice to meet you partner. Um, do you have a name or am I just going to have to keep calling you partner?” She blinks at him and tilts her head.

“Huh, I never thought of that. Um, maybe Hecate? It’s kinda a pun, and she’s the goddess of like, witchcraft or something, and like, black cats are associated with witches and stuff. Anyway, what do I call you, Ladybug?” Her voice takes on a teasing tone with that question, and he lets go of her hand.

“Uh, I guess just call me Crimson Beetle. I mean, my outfit is crimson and aren’t ladybugs beetles?” Their introductions get interrupted by a loud boom and in the distance, a building falls over. “I guess we should go stop that guy.”

“Yeah, I guess we should.” She shakily says, ears flattened against her head. Crimson Beetle flings himself again and Hecate slowly follows behind.

~One Fight Scene Later~

Hecate turns to Crimson Beetle, slightly shaking. “Next time, tell me the plan before you just launch me!” She runs away before using her baton to soar off.

Hecate lands on a rooftop and starts running. She’s not sure when she made it home or detransformed, but when Nikki blinks she’s back in her room.

“Welp time for cheese.” Plagg says from his position on Nikki’s shoulder. She makes the way to the kitchen still shaking and with somewhat jerky movements. Plagg grabs several cubes and stuffs them in his mouth. Nikki just looks down, eyes wide and vacant, her mind elsewhere.

“ _I can’t do this._ ” She whispers, causing the kwami to look at her.

“What do you mean kid?” 

“ _I can’t do this. I can’t go out and fight those, those things. I’m sorry Plagg but I can’t be a miraculous holder. I’ll hold onto the ring until I find someone else who can._ ”

She pulls the ring off her finger and places it back in the box, ignoring Plagg’s cry of “No, don’t!”

~A Few Hours Later~

“Hey Marc, glad you could make it.” Nikki opens the door wider and steps aside to let Marc in.

“Thanks for inviting me Nikki.” The two make their way to the kitchen where they munched on some snacks and talk for about thirty minutes. “Hey, Nikki, which way’s the restroom?

“Oh, it’s just down the hallway, turn left and it’s the first door on the left.” Marc gets up and Nikki busies herself by cleaning the small mess they made. She notices the box with the miraculous and grabs it, intending to hide it in her room for the time being.

Unfortunately for her, she trips over nothing again and lands on the floor. When she looks up, she just barely sees the box fall into Marc’s backpack.

“Um, Nikki?” Marc hovers over her. “Blemir just texted me, she wants me home now, so, see you tomorrow?” He grabs his bag and heads over to the front door. Nikki follows to escort her friend out and to try and grab the box without him knowing, but Marc leaves before she can attempt it.

“Bye Mac, see ya.” He waves back before descending down the stairs.

Nikki closes the door and leans against it. “ _Uh oh._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops~


	3. Onyx's Origins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's Onyx's first fight!

Marc grabbed his notebook and opened his backpack. When he went to place his notebook inside, he noticed a very peculiar box.

“What the?” He wondered as he put his notebook down and grabbed the box. He examined the box, before shrugging and opening it. A bright orb of light rose out of the box and he shielded his eyes. When the light died down, he looked back and saw a floating black cat.

“Huh, so you’re my new holder.” The cat thing zipped over to him. “You don’t look like much, you got any cheese?” Marc could only blink in confusion at him.

“Uh, what and who are you?”

“My name’s Plagg, I’m a kwami. I gave Hecate her superpowers before she gave it up. Now, you got anything to eat?” Marc gave up trying to get answers out of Plagg and went to the kitchen to grab some cheese. He returned with a plateful of cheese samples.

“There, now you have cheese. Now explain the whole ‘Hecate giving up her powers’ thing.” Plagg examined the plate before looking back at Marc.

“What, no camembert?” Marc deadpanned at him. “Fine, fine. Hecate gave up the ring and gave it to you, some random person. Since you don’t have any gooey, delicious camembert, I’ll settle for less.” He ate a piece of cheese as Marc just stared at him.

“Are you going to tell me anything useful or are you just going to eat cheese?”

“Fine, you transform, you get powers. Happy?”

“That doesn’t explain anything at all!” Marc exploded. Plagg just swallowed another piece of cheese.

“You say ‘Plagg, Claws Out’ to transform with the ring, and once you use Cataclysm you detransform after five minutes. Geez, you humans are weird.” Marc just sighed, took the ring out of the box, and put it on before continuing his morning routine.

When he finally got to school after managing to wrangle Plagg into coming to school with him, he noticed a crowd around a giant male. Avoiding the crowd, Marc entered Ms. Mendeleiev’s class and took his seat next to Nikki.

“Morning Nikki, how are you?” He asked in an attempt to be friendly. She smiled at him.

“I’m fine, how about how?” She replied before pointing at his ring. “That’s new, right?”

Marc nodded in response, fiddling with it. “Yeah, I just found it yesterday.”

“It’s very pretty, can I see it?” Before Marc could answer, Ms. Mendeleiev entered the classroom and the bell rang soon after.

The strict teacher started taking role and only got through a few names before a loud “PRESENT!” rang out. Everyone looked to the back of the class and a really cute redhead boy ran through the door.

“The monster from yesterday is back.” Was the only explanation given before he ran out the other door. There was a loud noise and everyone ran over towards the windows, spotting the stone giant slowly walking away. Marc ran out the door while his class was distracted, and found a quiet place to transform.

“Plagg, Claws out!” A wave of green light overtook his vision and when it cleared, he was sporting a pitch black bodysuit with a popped collar. The material covering his stomach was slightly transparent, allowing people to see his stomach. His usual choker had a silver bell on it and he wore gloves that reached up to his shoulders that flared out over top of the belts on his arms. His boots were thigh highs with a small heel, and the top flared out similar to the gloves with cute green paw prints on the bottom of the shoes. He had a tail that was a belt and it wrapped around his hips, and a silver baton rested on his lower back. Cute cat ears popped out of the top of his head.

“Wait, what!?” Marc vaguely remembered Plagg saying something about the suit reflecting your desires but… “I don’t want this at all!” He half whined, half yelled. He pouted as he used his baton to launch himself in the air.

Nikki stared after him as he managed to land on a nearby rooftop. “ _What the bloody hell was that!?_ ”

Marc ran from rooftop to rooftop, before he came across a rooftop with a small ball of red on it. He cautiously walked over to it, before recognizing it as the hero from yesterday, Crimson Beetle.

“Hey, are you okay?” He quietly asked. The hero whipped his face towards him, and he could see tears streaming down his face.

“Who are you?” Crimson answered. “And no, I’m not okay. This whole mess is my fault! If I had just done my job, none of this would've happened!” They buried their face in their arms again. “I’m not the right person for the job.” Seeing them in distress, Marc walked over and sat down, placing a comforting arm around the spotted hero.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay.” They raised their head slightly, one turquoise eye peeking out. “Did you turn someone into a stone monster?” A small head shake answered him. “Then it’s not your fault. And I for one think you did a great job yesterday.” This got Marc a small smile. “There you go, you’re so pretty when you smile, y’know?” Crimson’s face flushed and Marc stood up, extending a hand to his new partner. “Call me Onyx. He/him pronouns.”

“Crimson Beetle, I use he/him pronouns as well.” He accepted the hand given to him and used it to stand up.

The two of them then went towards the army of Stonebeings, and assessed the situation.

“Which one’s the real one?” Onyx asked, pressed up against Crimson, who shivered slightly.

“The one with the girls in his hands. We’ll have to be careful not to hurt them.”

“HEY STONEHEART!” A female voice rang out, causing the army to turn towards its source. “PUT THOSE TWO DOWN!” It was a girl who had a phone in one hand, and with the other, launched something at the original Stoneheart. It connected, but all Stoneheart did was look at it before he grew in size. One of the clones threw a car at the girl, who panicked and ran away.

“NO!” The two yelled out as Crimson threw his yo-yo at the car and tugged it away from her, effectively saving her from being crushed. Unfortunately, this drew the attention of the Stonebeings.

The army went after them while the original Stoneheart walked away. The two heroes fled as the Stonebeings started to scale the building.

“So what do we do now partner?” Onyx asks as he follows Crimson.

“We go straight to the source.” He opens his yo-yo and shows his screen. On it was Stoneheart atop the Eiffel Tower. The two landed on the ground and stared up at the Eiffel Tower. “That one.”

As they watch, Stoneheart suddenly launches the blonde, and Crimson Beetle quickly reacts. He flies through the air and catches her, with Onyx quickly following.

“I didn’t promise.” Is what is heard by the two of them.

“Chloe! My little princess!” The mayor rushes over and the blonde, now known as Chloe, goes over and hugs him.

“Bye Crimson~” She purrs before being escorted away by her father.

“We’re clear to attack!” A police officer with a broken arm says.

“What?!” Onyx bursts. “There’s still a hostage! And attacking is only going to escalate the problem!”

The man rolls his eyes. “Leave it to the pros newbie. Crimson already failed before.” Said spotted hero stiffened up before slightly curling in on himself.

“He’s right.” He spoke softly. “If I’d only done my job then-” He’s cut off by Onyx’s hug.

“You did do your job. You saved everyone yesterday and today you saved those two girls.” He pulled away to look him in the eye. “You are the right person for this.” Crimson Beetle’s cheeks flushed red.

Their tender little moment is interrupted by Stoneheart violently coughing. When they turn around to look, Stoneheart has hacked up a swarm of butterflies. He falls down, weakened by it.

“People of Paris, listen carefully. I am Hawkmoth.”

“Hawkmoth?” The two questioned, confused by this new development.

“Crimson Beetle and your new partner, give me the Ladybug earrings and the Cat ring now! You’ve done enough damage to these innocent people.” The two heroes fumed, before Crimson Beetle gave a slow clap.

“Nice try Hawkmoth, but we all know who the real villain is. Let’s not flip the script, shall we? You are the reason these innocent people turned into villains! No matter how long it takes, I, Crimson Beetle and my partner Onyx will find you, and we will defeat you, and you will give us your miraculous!” He declared before leaping at the swarm of butterflies and capturing them in his yo-yo. “No matter what villain Hawkmoth throws at us, we will protect this city!” Crimson then released all of the now purified butterflies, inspiring the people of Paris.

“Wow, whoever he is underneath that mask, he’s awesome.” Onyx then leapt up to join the spotted hero as Stoneheart recovered.

“You’ll never take Mylene away from me!” He bellowed as the poor girl trembled and cried for help. “Come to me, my Stonebeings!”

His army climbs up the tower while Stoneheart climbs to the very top. “They’re coming on all sides.” Onyx cries out as he surveys the situation.

“If we can take out the original, it’ll be game over for him!” He points at the fist where Mylene, Onyx supposes, is. “That’s where his akuma is. If I could just reach it…”

“I’ll keep the Stonebeings busy, you take care of those two!” Crimson smiles at him.

“Alright, I got a plan. Onyx, follow me and keep that army off my back.” He gives a two-fingered salute and the heroes race after Stoneheart. Crimson Beetle makes it to the tippity top. “Lucky Charm!” A parachute falls out of the sky and into his hands.

“What are you gonna do with that? Make him choke to death on it?” Onyx calls up and Crimson looks down at him with a mixed expression of horror and confusion.

The spotted hero shrugs on the parachute before wrapping his yo-yo around the fist Mylene is in.   
Get ready!” He calls out before tugging on the string, bringing Mylene close enough to Stoneheart’s cheek that she kisses him.

Stoneheart’s eyes widen and he accidentally lets go of Mylene and a purple ball of paper falls out of his fist. Mylene screams and she barely manages to grab onto one of his fingertips. Onyx sees the object falling and launches himself upwards, hitting the paper ball towards Crimson before catching himself. Crimson Beetle grabs it with his yo-yo, pulling it up towards him before breaking it.

Screams drew his attention away from the akuma, and to his horror, he saw the two falling. “Onyx! Grab Ivan, I’ve got Mylene!”

“On it! Cataclysm!” Onyx cries out, slamming his hand onto the tower, causing the area to rust and spread to his baton, holding it in place as he grabs Ivan while holding onto the very end of it.

Crimson Beetle falls past them, grabbing Mylene and then throwing his yo-yo at the akuma, capturing it. Upon its capture, the parachute deploys and the two float safely to the ground. Onyx manages to wrench free his baton and lowers himself and Ivan to the ground as well.

“Goodbye little butterfly.” Crimson releases the now pure butterfly and then throws the parachute into the air. “Miraculous Beetle!” He calls out, and swarms of ladybugs fly around Paris, repairing and restoring the city.

“Whoah.” Onyx stares in awe at the sight, his partner beaming beside him. “This is miraculous!”

“I think the two of you need to talk.” Crimson turns towards the two civilians and hands Mylene the sheet of paper. He gently pulls Onyx away and the heroes give them their privacy. “They’re so cute together.”

“Just like you are.” The cat hero smirks at his partner before faltering at a beeping sound. “Uh, is that my time limit?”

“Uh, yeah! Time limit, means we gotta split, bye!” Crimson Beetle flees as Onyx turns the opposite way and leaves using his baton.

**~**

Marc settles on a bench in the school courtyard, exhausted from the fight and from the anxiety that shot through him every time someone talked about Onyx.

“Hey Marc.” Nikki greets him from her seat on the bench and Marc jolts.

“Nikki~ You startled me!”

She smiled apologetically. “My bad, sorry. Hey what do you think of Onyx, the new cat?”

Marc slightly stiffened. “Ah, well. He’s certainly different than Hecate. But I think the two worked well together.” Nikki hummed.

“So, you think Onyx’s a good fit. Ya think he’ll stick around?”

Marc nodded. “Yeah, I think Onyx is gonna be there for Crimson.” He missed Nikki giving him a small smile.

The two sat and chatted for a while before they noticed the dark sky above. They quickly said their goodbyes and split up, Nikki going straight home while Marc headed to his locker to collect the remainder of his things.

He had just gotten to the front steps when it finally started to rain. “Dang it.” Marc quietly hissed under his breath.

“Here.” Someone said, and Marc looked over to see that cute redhead from earlier. He was holding out an umbrella. “I’ll be fine without it.”

Marc hesitantly reached out and took it from the boy’s hand. “Thank you..?”

“Oh, my name’s Nathaniel. What’s yours?”

“It’s Marc, Marc Anciel.”

**~♡~**

“This is not what I planned at all, Wayzz. But it seems like Onyx and Crimson Beetle make a good pair.”


	4. The Bubbler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crimson Beetle and Onyx face off against the Bubbler!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently Sheifale means little lamb or something similar in Yiddish. It's a term of endearment and children are mostly called that.

“Hi Mom.” Nathaniel greeted his mom, who was currently taking a break.

“Hey Sheifale, how was school?” His mother, Leah Kurtzberg, was the owner of the Kosher diner that he worked at.

“It was fine.” He stated, waving back at one of his co-workers. “Apparently it’s Adrien Agreste’s birthday today.”

The two were interrupted by multiple people screaming as they floated away in giant bubbles. “Nathaniel!”

He whips his head backs towards his mom, who was also trapped in a bubble and floating away. “Mom!” Nathaniel ran outside once his mother floated out of the store, staring helplessly as she floated higher and higher.

“Nathaniel, Hawkmoth must’ve released another akuma. You have to transform!” Tikki advised as she popped her head out of his jacket. The redhead nodded, but he was interrupted by a bright person landing in front of him, a cloud of bubbles surrounding him.

“Nathaniel, dude! There you are!” The neon colored akuma said.

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes, before widening in recognition. “Nino?!”

“Not quite dude. The name’s Bubbler, and when the cat’s away, the mice will play. I’m hosting a birthday bash for my man Adrien, and if you don’t come,” His expression turns dark and his voice gets deeper. “You can join the adults in the sky.” 

“No no, I’ll come to Adrien’s party. Where, uh, where is it?” Nathaniel backed away, hands in front of him in an attempt to protect himself.

The Bubbler, pleased with his answer, lightens up and answers him. “At Adrien’s house dude, you can’t miss it.” Using his bubble wand, he placed Nathaniel in a bubble. “I’ll give you a lift my dude.”

The akuma leapt onto a rooftop, Nathaniel's bubble following him all the way to Adrien’s house with a few stops here and there to pick up some other classmates. When they arrived at Adrien’s house, there were already people in front of the house, waiting for something.

“Alright dudes and dudettes, when my man Adrien exits the house, we all wish him happy birthday, got it?”

After Adrien walked out the front door, Nathaniel and his classmates all cheered “Happy Birthday Adrien!”

“Hey, birthday boy! Guess what? Daddy’s gone. While the cat’s away, the mice will play!”

“Sorry to burst your bubble.” A voice purred out, and everyone turned towards the voice. “But this cat isn’t going anywhere.”

There, in all his glory, was his partner Onyx. Everybody started to cheer, and Nathaniel slipped away to transform. “It’s a good Onyx showed up, it gives you the perfect opportunity to transform.”

“Yeah, Tikki, Spots On!” Nathaniel felt the magic wash over him as he transformed into Crimson Beetle. He raced back in time to see Onyx deflect the bubbles thrown at him.

“Look, it’s Crimson Beetle!” The new girl, Alya, if he remembered correctly, called out. That attracted everyone’s attention, including his partner and the akuma.

Crimson made his way over to the cat boy, creating a shield with his yo-yo. “Sorry I’m late, I got a little caught up in something.”

Onyx gave him a crooked smile. “That’s fine, you’re here now Love Bug.”

Crimson sputtered, losing concentration for a few seconds before regaining his composure. “Cool.” His voice cracked as his face heated up, no doubt the same color of his hair. “So, uh, the akuma object. I bet it’s the bubble wand, he used it to capture all the adults.”

“Yeah, he used it to attack me.” The raven haired agreed as Bubbler snapped out of his trance.

“You got it Hawkdude. Bubbler sent a barrage of red bubbles at them, and after they avoided and deflected them, he snapped his fingers and the bubbles turned green before surrounding and clinging to the heroes. “Alright, Hawkmoth wants your miraculous, so hand them over now or I’ll send you to space!”

“No way are we giving our miraculous to some coward who couldn’t even be bothered to face us himself and some reject circus clown!” Onyx shouted, angering Bubbler and causing him to punt the bubble into the sky. Crimson shrieked and Onyx yelled out as they shot into the sky.

“Great, now what are we gonna do?” Crimson asked as they rose towards the top of the Eiffel Tower.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get us out of here. Unless you want us to be stuck in here forever.” He gave Crimson a smirk before calling out “Cataclysm!” and popping the bubble.

The two free-fell for a moment before Crimson grabbed onto Onyx’s arm. “Hang on!” He yelled before flinging his yo-yo at the Eiffel Tower, slowing them down and tugging the two towards the tower before they got close enough that they could safely land.

When they get back to the mansion however, they see that Bubbler captured the teens in bubbles, and that they were floating to space.

“Outer space is the next stop for those peeps! Now give me your miraculous!” Bubbler attacks, flinging bubbles at them. They move back towards the Eiffel Tower, avoiding each other’s attacks.

“Alright, that’s enough. Lucky Charm!” A wrench falls into Crimson’s hands. “What the?”

“Nice.” Onyx cackles as he blocks another attack, ring beeping. “We can use that to bash his head in.”

“Are you okay?”

“Honey, I am fine.” He flirts before drawing Bubbler’s attention and fire away from his partner. Crimson takes the opportunity to look around and figure out a solution. “Aha.” He mutters before making his way over to the pipe. Using the wrench, he loosens the pipe and it starts blowing air as it whips around. “Onyx! Cover me!”

The cat hero jumps down, grabbing the wild pipe and using the air to block the Bubbler’s attacks. Infuriated, he goes to try again only for Crimson to steal his bubble wand.

“Gotcha!” He exclaims as he breaks the wand. “Oh no you don’t!” Crimson calls out as he flings his yo-yo at the akuma. “That’s enough out of you.” he claims once he catches it. Opening his yo-yo, he released the now white butterfly. “Goodbye little butterfly. Miraculous Beetle!”

The ladybugs swirl around the city, restoring damage and returning the adults.

“Well, it’s always nice seeing you around M’lord, but now I gotta split. Until next time.” Onyx gives a little bow before running off.

“Woah, Crimson Beetle? Aw man, did I get akumatized? I’m sorry bro.” Nino apologized, rubbing the back of his head.

“It’s ok, everybody gets upset from time to time.” His earrings beep in warning. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. Will you be okay by yourself?” At Nino’s reply, Crimson swings away and back towards his mom’s restaurant.

**~♡~**

“Nathaniel! Oh there you are, I was worried!” His mother hugs him before checking him over for damage.

“I’m fine Mom, the Bubbler just took me and my class to a birthday party for Adrien, and any injuries got cured by Crimson Beetle.” She lets out a sigh of relief.

“That’s good. Luckily we have such brave heroes to save us.”

“Yeah,” Nathaniel chuckled nervously. “Luckily.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe, Flirty! Marc is best Marc.


End file.
